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Mercury Living Presence

REVIEW:  You Are There! The True Story of a Legendary Label

A wonderful ‘Limited Edition’ compilation of 22 representative tracks drawn from the catalogue of one of the most illustrious classical music record labels of the 20th century, produced in celebration of the label’s 50th anniversary in 1994.

You Are There!
The True Story of a Legendary Label
(Booklet Cover)

50 Years New

If you are interested in the best classical recordings of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, you simply must give Mercury Living Presence a whirl. As a result of the company’s roster of outstanding performers and its unique recording techniques, Mercury became a major force in the American musical scene during the latter half of the 20th century.

It was with special excitement that I recently discovered this wonderful compilation disc released in 1994 by Philips Records to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mercury Living Presence label and the issuance of Mercury recordings on compact disc. Since my teenage years I have been a huge fan of Mercury recordings and Mercury artists, so it was with great anticipation that I waited for the package to arrive in the mail so I could listen to the disc and read the 160-page booklet that accompanies it.

Pianist Byron Janis

Brilliant Performances, Vibrant Sound

The CD contains 22 fascinating and extremely well-performed and well-recorded samples from various recordings straight out of the Mercury Living Presence catalogue (see the Track Listing at right). The recorded sound is clear and vibrant, with the extreme dynamic range you’d hear in a live performance. (In fact, be careful if you’re wearing headphones while you listen — the volume can range from extremely soft to earth shatteringly loud in a split second, and you don't want to blow your ears out!)

Composer Howard Hanson

Familiar Favorites

You’ll probably recognize a good number of the excerpts on this sampler. For instance, there is Charles Gounod’s “March of a Marionette” that you may remember as the theme music for the old TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. What is, in reality, the “Liberty Bell March” by John Philip Sousa will be familiar to many as the theme music to Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Other well-known selections include tunes from Bizet’s “Carmen”, Claude Joseph Rouget De Lisle’s “La Marseillais”, and Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” variations on a Shaker melody.

Organist Marcel Dupré

Sumptuous Standards

Excerpts from the standard classical repertory include thrilling performances by cellist Janos Starker performing part of Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo Variations” and movements from a Bach Suite; the phenomenal pianist Byron Janis playing a lovely, gentle Mendelssohn “Song Without Words” and a crisp and sparkling Liszt Concerto movement; legendary organist Marcel Dupré performing his glowing part in the Saint-Saëns “Organ” Symphony conducted with sensitivity and atmosphere by the great French conductor Paul Paray; and Henryk Szeryng, the elegant violinist, playing a bit of the Brahms violin concerto.

New and Unusual Sounds

In addition to the standard and more familiar, Mercury was among the first recording labels to dabble in “authentic” performance practice recordings and even what might be called “world music” from beyond the musical shores of the western classical sea.

Mercury included several lesser-known works in this collection. There are brilliant and colorful orchestral pieces by the likes of Igor Stravinsky, Aram Khachaturian, and Serge Prokofiev, as well as music in more “popular” styles like Charles Vardell’s “Joe Clark Steps Out” and Leroy Anderson’s “The Syncopated Clock.”

Of special note is a short Russian song performed by the Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra, shimmering with a throng of balalaikas. Very bittersweet, full of melancholy and yearning — beautiful!

Read All About It

The 160-page booklet that accompanies the CD includes the history of the Mercury Living Presence label, stories about several of its specialty projects such as the Civil War’s music and sounds project and its history-making trip to Russia, information about the major artists who recorded on Mercury, and remembrances by some of those artists of their days recording for Mercury.

In addition, there is a page for each recording reissued on CD that includes a beautiful color reproduction of the cover and specific information about the disc, its performers, the circumstances of its reporting, and reviews by well-known music critics.

The booklet also includes a Composer Index in case you wish to look up pieces by composer and an Artist Index if you’d prefer to search for which recording some particular artist may have recorded on the Mercury label.

Frederick Fennell Demonstrates
the Over-the-Shoulder Civil
War-Era Horn

A Trip in Time

One of the special stories told in the booklet is that of the making of the Civil War Project. Led by Frederick Fennell, Mercury and the Eastman Wind Ensemble recorded music on authentic period instruments in observance of the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. In addition to the music, authentic cannon fire and the sounds of mounted troops and caissons were also recorded.

I do wish some excerpts from this project could have been included in the You Are There! sampler. At least “The Civil War: Its Music and Its Sounds” CD is available online separately.

Battery “B” of the 2nd New Jersey Light Artillery:
Cannons aimed at a point not too far below the microphones

A Trip to Russia

Mercury was the first American record label to record on location in Russia. During a 10-day visit to Moscow, the team of recording engineers and musical personnel recorded the equivalent of 5 LPs with some of Russia’s leading orchestras and musicians, including the American pianist and Mercury artist Byron Janis, who returned to the Soviet Union for his second major concert tour.

The Mercury Recording Van
being hoisted aboard for
the overseas trip to Russia

A full ten pages of the booklet are devoted to the Russian trip, which took four years to plan. It’s a fascinating story, well worth reading.

Final Thoughts

You Are There! The True Story of a Legendary Label is a lot of fun! Although this recording is officially a limited edition product, there do seem to be plenty of copies floating around, many of them brand new and still in the shrinkwrap.

For value, you just can’t beat this disc/booklet combo. I purchased it for 1 cent. Yes, you did read that correctly: 1 penny + $2.99 shipping and handling, an even $3.00.

Grab yourself a copy of this fine compilation and its wonderful historical booklet, have a seat, and enjoy an evening of entertainment, education and fine music.

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